Patrick Ball (born June 26, 1965) is an American scientist who has spent thirty years conducting quantitative analysis for truth commissions, non-governmental organizations, international criminal tribunals, and United Nations missions in El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Haiti, South Africa, Chad, Sri Lanka, East Timor, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Kosovo, Liberia, Peru, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Syria. As director of research at Human Rights Data Analysis Group , he assists human rights defenders by conducting scientific and statistical analysis of large-scale human rights abuses. He received his bachelor of arts degree from Columbia University , and his doctorate from the University of Michigan .
19-470: The Human Rights Data Analysis Group is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that applies rigorous science to the analysis of human rights violations around the world. It was founded in 1991 by Patrick Ball . The organization has published findings on conflicts in Syria, Colombia, Chad, Kosovo, Guatemala, Peru, East Timor, India, Liberia, Bangladesh, and Sierra Leone. The organization provided testimony in
38-778: A case from the civil liberties group challenging a Georgia law barring online pseudonymity as unconstitutionally vague and overbroad. Ball served as a witness in testimony at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia against Slobodan Milosevic , the former President of Serbia . He was also a witness for the Prosecution at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in Milutinović et al. (IT-05-87). In 2013, Ball provided testimony in Guatemala's Supreme Court in
57-681: A nine-month period in 1986-1987, the mortality rate in Habré's prisons was higher than that of US POWs in Japanese custody during World War II. In 2024, the Nature Awards John Maddox Prize, in partnership with Sense About Science, awarded Patrick Ball the John Maddox Prize for his outstanding work in identifying, cataloguing and prosecuting war crimes using rigorous statistical and mathematical modeling. In 2018,
76-452: A variety of journals and sponsors several international conferences every year. The organization's mission is to promote good application of statistical science, specifically to: As of 2022, the ASA membership exceeds 19,000 professionals found in government, academia, and the private sector. Organizational members and corporate supporters of the ASA include AstraZeneca , Merck & Co. ,
95-465: Is available online and features first-person statistician stories called My ASA Story. Based on the monthly column in AmStat News, the ASA produces a website called STAT tr@k with new articles every month for early career statisticians and data analysts, recent graduates, or those who are in a statistics program. Quarterly magazine Chance and bimonthly magazine Significance are geared toward
114-641: The 1990s-era controversies over the export of strong cryptography by United States software developers, Ball's technical background in human rights conflicts directed him to advocate for the widespread availability of cryptographic technology. In 1993, he began working with the Science and Human Rights Program of the American Association for the Advancement of Science , initially as a consultant and eventually as deputy director. His work with
133-758: The American Statistical Association gave Patrick Ball the Karl E Peace Award for Outstanding Statistical Contributions for the Betterment of Society. Ball was conferred a Doctor of Science honoris causa by Claremont Graduate University in 2015. In 2014, he was named a Fellow by the American Statistical Association . Other awards include the Pioneer Award from the Electronic Frontier Foundation in 2005,
152-886: The Eugene L. Lawler Award for Humanitarian Contributions within Computer Science from the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) in June 2004, and a Special Achievement Award from the Social Statistics Section of the American Statistical Association in 2002. He is a Research Fellow at the Carnegie Mellon University Center for Human Rights Science, and a Fellow at the Human Rights Center at Berkeley Law of
171-611: The National Security Agency , Pfizer , RTI International , Stata Corp and Westat . In November 2018, ASA Board of Directors approved a code of conduct statement on Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI). It was reviewed and updated by ASA BOD in 2019, 2021, and most recently in 2023. In June 2020, the R. A. Fisher Award and Lectureship was changed to COPSS Distinguished Achievement Award and Lectureship . The change follows discussions about Fisher 's views on race and eugenics. In 2021, ASA established
190-855: The University of California, Berkeley . American Statistical Association The American Statistical Association ( ASA ) is the main professional organization for statisticians and related professionals in the United States . It was founded in Boston , Massachusetts on November 27, 1839, and is the second-oldest continuously operating professional society in the U.S. behind the Massachusetts Medical Society (founded in 1781). ASA services statisticians, quantitative scientists, and users of statistics across many academic areas and applications. The association publishes
209-590: The AAAS included traveling to El Salvador and Ethiopia to train local human rights organizations on the use of cryptography and the Internet to protect their communications. The Science and Human Rights Program also organized or co-organized symposiums, including a congressional briefing at which Ball presented alongside Matt Blaze , Ian Goldberg , and Dinah PoKempner. In 1997, Ball provided testimony in ACLU v. Miller ,
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#1732794372121228-540: The ASA offers the Accredited Professional Statistician status (PStat), to members who meet the ASA's credentialing requirements, which include an advanced degree in statistics or related quantitative field, five years of documented experience, and evidence of professional competence. To apply for continuing accreditation, PStat members are expected to complete 60 hours of professional development activities each year. The ASA also offers
247-559: The Graduate Statistician status (GStat) as of April 2014. It serves as a preparatory accreditation suitable for graduate students. A list of PStat and GStat accredited members is available on the ASA website. The ASA publishes several scientific journals : Online-only journals: Co-Published journals: The ASA co-sponsors the Current Index to Statistics (CIS) The monthly magazine for members Amstat News
266-742: The Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Outreach Group, known as the JEDI Outreach Group. New Fellowships of the ASA are granted annually by the ASA Committee on Fellows. Candidates must have been members for the preceding three years but may be nominated by anyone. The maximum number of recipients each year is one-third of one percent of the ASA membership. ASA is organized in Sections, Chapters and Committees. Chapters are arranged geographically, representing 78 areas across
285-661: The US and Canada . An example of an early and large chapter is the SoCalASA. Sections are subject-area and industry-area interest groups covering 22 sub-disciplines. ASA has more than 60 committees coordinating meetings, publications, education, careers, and special-interest topics involving statisticians. ASA is a member society of the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences. As of April 2010 ,
304-565: The United States. The Human Rights Data Analysis Group was founded in December, 1991, by Patrick Ball as a part of the Science and Human Rights Program within the American Association for the Advancement of Science . It moved to the non-profit umbrella company Benetech on November 3, 2003. On February 1, 2013, HRDAG became an independent nonprofit organization, fiscally sponsored by Community Partners. Patrick Ball During
323-462: The disappearance of a student union leader. In September 2015, Ball provided testimony in the trial of former President of Chad, Hissène Habré . HRDAG's analysis showed that the death rate for political prisoners was much higher than for adult men in Chad: 90 to 540 times higher. On its worst day in the time period for which data were analyzed, the mortality rate was 2.37 deaths per 100 prisoners. During
342-425: The trial of General José Efraín Ríos Montt , the de facto president of Guatemala in 1982-1983. Ríos was found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity; it was the first time ever that a former head of state was found guilty of genocide in his own country. Ball also testified in 2013 in the trial of Guatemala's former national police chief, Héctor Rafael Bol de la Cruz, who was sentenced to 40 years in prison for
361-408: The war crimes trials of Slobodan Milošević and Milan Milutinović at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia , and in Guatemala's Supreme Court in the trial of General José Efraín Ríos Montt , the de facto president of Guatemala in 1982–1983. Gen. Ríos was found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity. Most recently, the organization has published on police violence in
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